AUGUST 29, 1958

BRUSSELS, Belgium—It was quite shocking to read that over the past 18 months at least 20 documents
have been forged and published in various Soviet and pro-Soviet Communist newspapers
and broadcast over their radios.

Before anyone would publish what claimed to be state papers of another nation he might
expect that if they were forged documents they would be denounced promptly. And it
is quite evident that this publication of such forgeries was thought to be a new way
to attack the United States, so the use of Communist facilities in India and in Cairo
as well as in East Berlin is easy to understand.

This new program of propaganda has five main themes: "Europe must not have nuclear
weapons; Dulles is blocking a summit conference (this was before Mr. Khrushchev backed
out); the United States is trying to take over the Middle East; the United States
is plotting to dominate the world economically; the trigger-happy United States is
eager to ignite war."

These themes are supposed to be Mr. Dulles' directives, and they were published at
times as cables from U.S. officials. The stories even went so far as to explain how
President Achmed Soekarno of Indonesia could be assassinated and how Nationalist China
President Chiang Kai-shek is planning a program of subversion in the United States.

All of these forgeries first appeared outside the Soviet Union. Then they were broadcast
by Moscow Radio, as well as by Peking and Cairo. Thus the content of the forged documents
was spread widely in all the needed languages to vast numbers of people.

If you were an expert looking for proof of authenticity you could probably easily
discover a number of reasons why these documents were not written by the people they
are attributed to, but I think you would have to be an expert. So, it will not be
astonishing if a great many people not only have believed but will continue to believe
the nonsense in these forgeries.

It is well that we in America should know about them, since undoubtedly many travelers
will be asked at some point about one or another, and we had better be prepared to
give the lie to them all.

My attention was attracted the other day to a newspaper article about the election
campaign in Maine. Interest is heightened by the fact that on September 8 a Democratic
candidate for the United States Senate will be chosen, and a likely candidate is Governor
Edmund S. Muskie, the first Democrat to be elected to that office. If he is nominated
and if he wins, he will be the first Democratic Senator from Maine.

Mr. Muskie, who has been governor for two terms, is a quiet, tall, good-looking man.
I wish he was better known throughout the country, for I think he has the qualities
of greatness which might even lead him to be considered for the Presidency someday.

He speaks extremely well and is easy to understand, never trying to hide anything
or cover up for anyone. I have a hunch he may break the Maine tradition and be elected to the Senate. If he is, he will be an asset there and a personality
that will not long be ignored. He will bring dignity and courage to his office and
his state.